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Source:Helm, History of Cass County (1886),
pp. 252-255:

The Miamis – At an early period in the
history of the Algonquin family, while it inhabited the
region of the northern lakes and before the general
dispersion of the tribes, the Miamis were recognized, not so
much by a distinct name, in the sense of a specific
division, as by particularities of manner and habit, or
otherwise, from location. Then, in common with the Ottawas
and adjacent bands, their chief occupation appears to have
been fur-gathering, for they were hunters and trappers, and
had acquired considerable notoriety in that particular
calling. From the contiguity of their location and
similarity of habit with the Ottawas, as separate bands,
they were probably distinguished by the appellation of
Touatouas, or ‘Twa-twas, indicating that they were of the
hunters, or were hunters, the Ottawas being especially known
by that name, from which the modification of the term
derives its significance. The tribal relation was not
recognized until the severance from the parent stock was
consummated. This probably did not take place prior to the
year 1600, since nothing is heard of them for a number of
years after that time. Having separated themselves, however,
they located somewhere to the southward of Lake Nipissing,
or on the peninsula east of Lake Michigan. Here they aptness
in catching the beaver and other fur-bearing animals of the
higher grades insured their early acquaintance with traders
of the class that traversed the country. The strifes
incident to competition in trade, and the jealousies
engendered thereby in the end, induced a resort to every
species of chicanery consistent with securing a good trade.
They were designated first, by the English traders and
others, as Twightwees, or Twig-twees. Later, through the
agency of these deceptions, practiced by the English no
doubt to offset the superior diplomacy of the French, the
name became obnoxious. At this junction, the French, to
maintain the ascendant and secure their confidence
thereafter, called them M’ Amis (Miamis) – my friends –
significant of the confidential relationship existing
between them. The general correctness of this version of the
incidents connected with the name of this ancient tribe has,
in addition to its probability, the acceptance, in
substance, at least, of some old writers whose statements
are every way worthy of credence.

The first historical account we have of
this tribe was in the year 1669, in the vicinity of Green
Bay, where they were visited by the French missionary,
Father Allouez, and subsequently by Father Dablon. It is
stated that from Green Bay they passed to the south of Lake
Michigan, in the vicinity of Chicago. At a later date they
settled on the St. Joseph’s, of Lake Michigan, and
established there a village; another on the river Miami of
Lake Erie (Ke-ki-ong-a), now Fort Wayne), and a third on the
Wabash (Ouiatenon, on the Wea Plains, a few miles below La
Fayette, Ind.). Charlevoix says that these villages were
established as early as 1670, for at that date the Miamis
had been in possession, occupying the territory surrounding,
for many years anterior thereto. A portion of them remained
at Detroit and above that point until near the close of the
seventeenth century, when they were induced to emigrate
southward and join the other Miamis in the southern part of
the Michigan Peninsula. During the major part of the latter
half of that century they had been and were in alliance with
the French, and through their instrumentality the principal
settlements of them were made in northern Indiana and
Illinois. French missionaries were among them at those
several villages as early as 1670-79, as we find from the
records of the Jesuit priests, who were themselves familiar
with the facts stated. Simultaneous with or prior to the
visitation of these points by the priests, rude forts had
been erected by the authorities of the French Government,
for the protection of trade and the maintenance of their
supremacy over these, their Indian allies. One of these
forts had been erected at the instance of Sieur de La Salle,
at Ke-ki-ong-a, in 1669 or 1670, and in 1679, after his
plans had been interfered with at Kekionga, by war parties
of the Iroquois passing that way, and another at the mouth
of St. Joseph’s, of Lake Michigan. Within about the same
period, the exact date of which does not now appear, a
similar fort or post was erected and maintained at Ouiatenon
– all within the jurisdiction of New France, and within the
region occupied by the Miamis.

At a very early period, but just at
what time is not now to be ascertained, the Miamis, because
of their extensive dominion, power and influence, and of the
numerous consanguinous branches acknowledging their
relationship, came to be known as the Miami Confederacy. In
1765 the confederacy was composed of the following branches,
with the number of warriors belonging to each:The Twightwees, at the head of the Maumee River, with
250 available warriors; the Ouiatenons, in the vicinity of
Post Ouiatenon, on the Wabash, with 300 warriors; the
Piankeshaws, on the Vermillion River, with 300 warriors; and
the Shockeys, on the territory lying on the Wabash, between
Vincennes and Post Ouiatenon, with 200 warriors. At an
earlier date, perhaps, the Miamis, with their confederates,
were able to muster a much more formidable force, as the
citation from the history of the
Five Nations would seem to show.

From what has already been shown
concerning the extent of territory claimed by and conceded
to belong to the Miamis, it will appear that the lands in
Cass and adjoining counties came into possession of the
United States Government through the agency of treaties with
that nation, an account of which will elsewhere appear,
notwithstanding the fact that there was a show of title in
the Pottawatomies, who, by sufferance, had been permitted to
exercise rights of possession over a portion of these lands,
which was ceded by them to the United States, subject to the
higher claim of the Miamis. The Great Miami Reserve, so
called, lying south of the Wabash River and east of a line
running due south from a point opposite the mouth of Eel
River, and extending east through Cass, Miami and Wabash,
including a portion of Grant County, was the last of their
extensive possessions in the State of Indiana, to which they
yielded their ancient right. They dwelt in permanent
villages, thus indicating a higher civilization than that of
the nomadic tribes of the farther West. For this purpose
they selected the most beautiful sites on the banks of
rivers and small streams. While their principal sustenance
was derived from hunting and fishing, their selections for
village sites and their treaty reservations, whether of
large or small tracts, are, proverbially, the very best
lands for agricultural purposes. They were a war-like tribe,
and were allies of England in the wars between that country
and this. Their chiefs were able leaders, the most
conspicuous of whom, as a statesman and warrior, was Little
Turtle. Their prowess in the field is historical under the
leadership of this celebrated chief, who, as commander of
the allied Indian forces, defeated Gen. Harmar October 19,
1790, and Gen. St. Clair November 1, 1791, the most
disastrous reverses suffered by the whites at the hands of
the Indians.

And not less conspicuous is the
war-like character they sustained in their defeat by Gen.
Wayne at the battle of Fort Wayne, August 20, 1794; by Gen.
Harrison at the battle of Tippecanoe, November 7, 1811; and
by Col. Campbell on the Mississinewa, in December, 1812.
Francis Godfroy, Lewis Godfroy, his brother, and Shap-pa-can-nah,
or Deaf Man, were noted war chiefs, and participated in the
battles.